Tobacco and flavor compounds are typically smoked by burning and inhaling combustion fumes and smoke. Alternatively, the technique of vaporization is used, wherein the substance(s) is vaporized by heating so that desired flavor and psychoactive components are liberated, and combustion is minimized.
Vaporization is generally considered a smoother and more flavorful process, and more efficient use of smoking materials, as compared to burning, because desired flavor and psychoactive compounds are not destroyed by combustion.
Vaporizers in use today are often electrically powered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,434,584 (Steinberg) and 20090032034 (Steinberg) describe vaporizer devices that use a flame and psychoactive compounds from smoking materials, such as tobacco, as the source of vaporizing flavor. The device includes a filter unit with a porous flame filter that is made of open-cell ceramic or metal foam, sintered ceramic or metal granules or other porous, heat resistant materials. In use, a flame is supplied to the flame filter, and inhalation causes ambient air to enter the flame filter. The flame exhaust and ambient air are mixed within the flame filter and produce an air stream of intermediate temperature. The intermediate temperature air stream is sufficiently hot to vaporize desirable components from the smoking material(s).
An earlier vaporizer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,494 (McCoy) and includes a lower chamber member having a bowl portion that holds materials from which vapor is to be extracted. The bowl portion communicates with a vapor intake conduit at a vapor intake orifice thereof arranged below the bowl portion. The vapor intake conduit mates with a smoking pipe conduit. A lower screen member is arranged in the bowl portion over the vapor intake orifice. An upper chamber member mates with the lower chamber portion in a substantially air-tight manner to form a vaporization chamber. The upper chamber member communicates with a conical-shaped heat intake conduit and has a heat intake orifice at a distal end that accepts output from a heat source. A heated intake air turbulence member includes an impeller arranged between the heat intake orifice and the vapor intake orifice.